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Braun eyes transition in next six months

Ingrid Braun, the new Sheriff-elect of Mono County, said this past week she had no intention of waiting until January to begin a transition.

“Hopefully, there will be a transition that happens smoothly,” she said. “At least that’s what I would want.”

Under the current budget, she will inherit an undersheriff, a lieutenant, four sergeants, 14 deputies and eight court screeners.

In addition, she will inherit a jail staff, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff and other support personnel, such as in dispatch duties and public information.

Those are lot of employees who will be under her wing in one form or another, not to mention a volunteer force working the Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue operations.

“What I don’t want to do is to come in cold,” she said. “It’s important that the flame be kept lit.”

She said her initial plans are to consult with current Sheriff Ralph Obenberger, against whom she won a landslide victory on Tuesday, along with former Mono County Sheriff Lloyd “Digger” Wilson, who was sheriff between 1982 and 1987.

Wilson endorsed her candidacy early in the campaign, she said.

“I plan to talk to Digger Wilson quite a bit,” she said.

“I’ll go to as many meetings as I can, but I’ll just have to wait to see what happens, that’s all.”

Meanwhile, her status as Sheriff-elect would not interfere with her mountain bike racing in the summer evenings this year, although she said she would probably sacrifice her participation in the winter Village Championship ski races, where she has become a fixture.

“The mountain bike VCs are after work, so that might work,” she theorized, “but the ski racing next winter might have to go.”